Coat hanger



Patented Aug. 15, 1944 4 I V 2,355,984... g COATzHANGER:

v This, invention refers i;to, clothing equipment .andmore particularly to :coat ;hangers for. sup- ;portingwearing apparel. It has among its ob- :jects j-to provide a coat hanger. that will, hold .trousers,, coats; dresses andiiother garments in such'a manner as to keep. their form and avoid the undue creasing of parts. .Another obje t is to havethe device designed to reinforce itself and :producea strong structure, even when. madeof f paper, cardboardand other relatively weakmaterials. A further object is to havethe form such that thearticle may be stamped out'of. a flat piece of material and then. easily bentor formed .to give it the strength and-effectiveness desired 7 for the purposes for which it is used, A still furtherobj ect is to arrange the-coathanger so it will stay readily in place on a. hanger bar or hook;and;have eliminated therefrom all sharp edges and points that might tend to injure the user or the garment on it or in the vicinity.

Lightness, surface to mark or print on and compactness are also features of this invention.

Other objects will become apparent as the invention is more fully set forth.

While coathangers have been punched out of fiat material heretofore such have required separable metal hooks for the supporting element, and they have had edges that produced undesirable creases in pants and other garments hung upon them. In this invention, the blank is cut with an integral hook and all other parts integral with it, and the form is such that it is readily shaped to make the completed article ready for use without detriment to the apparel. It has -no parts that can tear the clothing and it is light and strong. It has a certain amount of flexibility laterally that is very desirable in packing the clothing with the coathanger in a suit case or trunk, as it has not the rigidity which conventional wire and wooden ones have. Rigidity under these circumstances makes it hard to pack such items and when packed the rigid forms impress their shapes into the apparel. This is avoided by this invention. The coathanger has a special feature in its locking arrangement that is flexible and keeps the coathanger from loosening during the general movement and weighting caused by the hanging of coats etc. thereon.

In the drawing which illustrates a form of this invention:

Figure 1 is a front view of a coathanger embodying this invention; 5

Figure 2 is a full view of the unfolded blank as it is punched from a sheet of flat material;

HILuptom Ilchester, lVId. l 7 Ap lication Augusr'zs, 1942,1Serial-No. 456,553 Y l Qlaiimr 101123 37 1 Figure 3:is a sectional elevation taken along lines-3 of Figure 1 I Figure 4 is a sectionalelevation take n along :line' 44 of Figu'r'e2, and 1 i Figure 5 is-a rear view of the form shown'in :Figurei. 1 Similar reference" characters refer to similar parts throughout the drawing. 7

i In the drawing, Irepresents a coathanger'blank ;having a substantialhook 2' formed on itsupper a portion for hanging the same on a horizontal I pole or coathook, in a conventional manner. This .hook includes a hump 22 for making it stay on a holding bar. A relatively large lower portion 3 is cut-out at its lower-border 4 adjacent the middle in the form of a polygon slot 5 with the two projecting fins 6 disposed to restrict the enran P T Q1 9 e o ndr t in. t e-19 irig member as indicated on the drawing. The middle portion 1 of the blank is formed with external outlines 8 suitable for contact with the garments placed upon it to be supported on the hanger. Its corners 9 are rounded to avoid pointed pyramidical piece I0 is cut in the middle portion of the form shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4 with its lower portion l I connected to the blank to form a flexible hinged element on which the piece I0 may be swung. The piece I!) has a rectangular locking member l2 adapted to fit into the center part of the slot 5 and catch in back of the fins 6, when it is bent .over into the position indicated in Figure 3. The opening 13 left by slitting out of the piece 10 serves as a means for handling the coathanger and as a space through which the garment may be attached to the lower portion if desired. The upper edges M are arranged to bind on these garments and prevents them'from slipping off easily.

As the piece I0 is bent over, it is formed with a large flat surface l5 which serves as a ledge on which the garment etc. may rest without being creased thereby.

This ledge or flat surface l5 when braced by piece Ill serves to give it a truss effect and add stiffness to the coat hanger when in hanging position and prevent its bending in a longitudinal or lateral direction which the unsupported portion of the material cut flat would not provide. In packing, this ledge functions differently to its action while in hanging position, where the stiffness is fully used. When packed in a suitcase or trunk the weight of the clothes is eliminated from the ledge and does not tend to pull it to a horizontal position. The resiliency of the piece portions from sticking into them. A

'- this application to couldbe made Ill tends to lift and remov the ledge with its stiff ness, and allow the flatness resumed to become flexibly acting, so it may be packed adjustably and easily.

As the weight of the pants or other garment etc. inserted through the opening and resting on the ledge l5 increases, it tends to force the piece I downward. This makes the locking member l2 travel further down into the slot 5, until the points l6 contact the sides ll of the ,slot .5, but in doing so stays in back of the. projections fi, and keeps in place without unlocking when the load is removed from the ledge IS. The manner of;

edge andrelatively short with inwardly directed -"upper edg'es in'the s'ame'plane towards a hook formed in an apexed position thereon, of the same blank, the middle central-portion of the whole inserting the member I2 is indicated in the drawing and does not seem to need tion.

further describ ll'l" hinged flap'of the material of the blank arranged The coats and the like are hung over the shoul-' d r edges 8 a d c rn s 9- "pa s 'guia1'-"in formand insertable in said slot for lockrower articles of clothing rest on the ledgelandn bar formed on the lower portion 3, with thepiece ID bent as described. Where the inner opening and ledge are not required; the piece ILUJnay be deft in the opening? I3 ag-ip a wh zth blank is first punched out, .orxitm'ay be partially .=;pushedfout so. as 'toiopeniup the garmentslightly for the admission of air during dryingor: airing.

1 The form of the hook promotes 'its' effectiveness and freedom for possible injury to the'garments. f Whileibutone general form offthe invention is shown inithe drawing, it is not desired 'to limit this. particular form" or 'in "any "other way'otherwise than "limited by the scope thereof, as it is appreciated that other forms that would-use the same principles andco'me within'the scope of the appendedplaim, HaYihg thusde s'cribed the invention, what c n and pants hanger oi the class described blank being out along converging lines to make an opening across the blank and to provide a bent horizontally out w I to form a ledge for resting pant's inserted through "the said openi'ng, the opening being formed to "provide a restrictedrectangular slot in its apexed po'r'tion'and restricted relatively small horizontal c slots at the bottom "the sides of 'the pants'plaped therein tightly, the hook portion being formed in the same plane and pb sitioned above the middle of 'thdblal'lk and corners thereof for holding formed with its' hook out to a if'orm'and rounded 'over to point downwardly and provide an internal-spacing in the hook adapted for hanging on a nail or the like, said last mentioned spacing having an entrance directly under the pointing down portion-cr me hook and restricted by "a relatively smallhump rising'closely to the hook :so asto'form therewith a 'th e said spacing.

restricted passage to EJIZMERV LUPTON.

from the blank arranged 

